LAKEPORT— This Saturday the Mercantile in Lakeport was a sea of tuxedos and ballroom gowns as the Lake County Wine Alliance held it’s 22 annual Wine Auction. This robust community effort has become quite the tradition, raising over $100,000 from the live auction alone to give to their long list of beneficiaries.
The event was hosted by Clay and Angie Shannon of Shannon Family of Wines and emcee’d by Jennifer Strong of Strong Financial, accompanied by volunteer auctioneer Brain Rose and Lake County Chamber of Commerce Director Laura McAndrews Sammel. Clay Shannon expressed his gratitude for the community stating “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you all supporting us. Thank you,” Angie Shannon duplicated the gratitude specifically thanking Marie Beery for all of the hard work she puts into the event. The evening began with appetizers and wine tastings on the lawn provided by various local breweries, wineries and restaurants including Aromas Cafe, BBQ by Biasotti, Clear Lake High School Culinary, On the Waterfront, Santana’s Cottage Cafe, Beaver Creek Vineyards, Kelsey Creek Brewing, Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill and many others. While enjoying all of the local offerings guests utilized this time to peruse the various raffle items as well as silent auction items which were available for online bidding.
Next the national anthem was sung by Anthony Neves, one of the lead singers of the Funky Dozen, and the gourmet three course meal was plated. It had been prepared and served by the Wine Alliance Culinary Team as well as local high school culinary programs from both Lower Lake and Clear Lake High Schools and also the members of Jacks Lavender Farm, a 501 C3 non profit with a 15 acre farm in Lower Lake whose mission is to cultivate opportunity for lake county teens. Several teen members shared the difference it makes in their lives, noting they may not be successful in high school without it. These programs are also beneficiaries of the auction alongside the Lake County High School Arts Programs and FFA Programs, Lake County Youth Symphony, Mother-Wise, World Wide Healing Hands, Lake County Young Life, Ely Stage Shop, North Shore Fire Fund, Lake Family Resource Center, Totes for Teens and many others.
Also speaking at the event was Congressman Mike Thompson who donated an all inclusive trip for four including airfare to the United States Capitol for a VIP tour including lunch in the members dining room and a flag that flew at the Capitol which auctioned for $10,000 dollars. Thompson shared “Truth is I’ve never missed a Lake County Wine Auction.” He continued “The money raised has done a lot for the community, so tonight when you’re bidding please remember not only are you bidding on an item, not only are you helping to raise money for the foundation, but you are literally changing lives in one of the greatest communities on the face of the earth.”
The auction began with donations and first to bid was Mike Draxton of Draxton Wines donating $15,000. Continuing into the auction lot there were 22 items total ranging from guns to private vineyard stays and even a 25 person barbecue prepared at your home by the Lakeport Volunteer Firemen, that one went for $7,500. The last item of the auction was a large watercolor painting titled “Ballerina in the Vineyard” by artist John R. Clarke which sold for $27,000 dollars. Clarke has donated a painting each year for the past 22 years and has become the trademark for each year’s printed materials.
Rose concluded the evening thanking attendants for their generosity stating. “You people came together tonight and raised a lot of money for your community and that is to be celebrated.” According to Strong, the funds raised by this event over the years so far have approached $3 million dollars, and she said, “Are we going to pass through the $3 million dollar mark tonight? Yes we are!” With paintings selling for $27,000 that goal was rather realistic.
